<p>At Harvard, the vast majority of legacy applicants and recruited athletes (I knew a number of them at school) had excellent GPAs (4.0 or near perfect) in high school.</p>
<p>Underrepresented minorities (URM) or otherwise disadvantaged applicants comprise the population of successful applicants with lower GPAs.</p>
<p>If the OP cannot characterize himself as a URM or disadvantaged applicant, then I would not like his chances at securing an acceptance from Harvard or any other highly selective college.</p>
<p>On a related note, I think it’s really unhealthy for students in high school (particularly the earlier years – frosh, soph) to be talking about getting into Harvard. It implies that the proper focus on personal development for the “right” reasons doesn’t exist.</p>